Broncos waive A.J. Derby, activate Austin Traylor to 53-man roster

With tight end Jeff Heuerman (knee) ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Bengals, the Broncos have activated tight end Austin Traylor from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.

Denver waived/injured A.J. Derby to make room for Traylor on the active roster, according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis. Before being cut, Derby hauled in 19 receptions for 224 yards and two touchdowns in nine games.

Traylor (6-3, 255 pounds) is a 24-year-old first-year player who signed a future contract with the team in January. Traylor played college football at Wisconsin and signed with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent following the 2016 NFL draft. He spent time on the practice squads of Dallas, San Diego, New England and Denver over the last two seasons.

Traylor had a nice connection with former Broncos quarterback Kyle Sloter during training camp (Sloter now serves as a backup for the Vikings).

“[They] might have been the No. 1 connection throughout all of training camp,” offensive coordinator Mike McCoy said after practice Thursday. “Every time Kyle was in there, you’d always ask, where is 86? Is he out there? That’s probably where the ball is going to go.”

Virgil Green will be Denver’s No. 1 tight end this week but Traylor will likely rotate in on offense and contribute on special teams.

“He’s done a great job,” McCoy said. “The role that he’s been in up to this point in time in the season, he just does what we ask him to do whether it’s in the kicking game, whether it’s scout team for the defense or whether he steps in and took plenty of reps on offense. He just does it one way. He works extremely hard, so I’m very pleased with where he’s at.”

Traylor caught two passes for 23 yards during preseason earlier this year. Sunday’s game will mark his regular season debut.